SD Virtual Desktops - Disappearing Programs - New Thread

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Folks, Thought I'd start that new thread on this subject. Here is a summary of posts from the other 2 around SVD 1.99d(rc).002 problems.

Problem:

programs disappear when I switch from one desktop to another. I can't get them back (retrieve all windows doesn't do the job, tabbing doesn't do the job). The programs appear in Program Manager but not on the desktops


Examples:


KRA (me): typically happens when I switch away from (or switch to) a desktop that has a "busy" application running (typically something that is connecting to a network resource - MS Outlook and Lotus Notes tend to do this to me.) "Retrieve all windows" will not get it back - the only way is to kill the missing app from the task manager and restart it. This has happened on all versions of SVD that I've used. On the older version of SVD (where running apps weren't filtered from the task list) I could at least get the "missing" app back on screen by using keyboard shortcuts to move the window back into the visible area - that doesn't work anymore.

Mark M: I have never lost a program when switching desktops except for Firefox once or twice going away. I have to get into taskmgr and kill it then restart it, but it has never happened to any other program.

Vince: I have had that issue. One thing I noted is that it tended to be Java based applications (like IntelliJ IDE or JEdit). I also noticed that in the default setup from SD they have exclusions for java and javaw executables so I'm wondering if this is a known problem.
Anyway I added my Java based development tools and apps to the exclusion list and I've not noticed other apps disappearing (yet).

Jeff (developer): Question, does this still happen in that "mode 2"?
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Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
does this still happen in that "mode 2"?

I've always used mode 1 so I cannot say at the moment (and I wont be able to test it until the new version of SVD gets posted

Some more observations - from memory. I run 8 desktops with SVD in the task bar at the bottom of the screen (one row high) with SVD right over next to the start button taking up about 1/3 of the taskbar width and with taskbars locked. SVD is plain - just a plain colour background on all desks, no screen number, no app titles, just icons (I like the clean, minimalist approach).

Now I typically open Lotus Notes on desk 2 where it is sized to take up most of the screen. I then may be working in another app on desk 3, say. In the past sometimes I would click on the Notes app area in the SVD desk 2 to switch back. SVD would switch to desk 2 OK but Notes would jump to desk 1. I could then click back to onto desk 3 and I could see Notes jump back into desk 2. Wait a little and then I could maybe switch to Notes on desk 2 with no problems.

If Notes was on desk 2 and I was working on desk 8, say, and I tried this, guess what happened?, Notes disappeared! (way off to the left of screen somewhere). Retrieve desktops sometimes worked (I think) but with BandVWM I was able to use keystrokes to get it back (Alt + M to move etc.) (and it would appear from the left side of the screen). Same thing could happen when switching from desks on the left to desks on the right as well. Its almost as if SVD was saying, OK that app is 10,000 pixels or whatever away from the current screen and that's it!

Make sense? - a bit hard to explain...

I suspect that something like this is still happening with SVD but there is now no way of "retrieving" the app which is way off in thin air somewhere.

Hope this helps. Kent


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Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
From Link

#41 by do not use this name
Thu, September 29, 2005 10:32 PM

I have installed the newest build (1.99e) and it seems more robust to losing applications from virtual desktops. However, they still do disappear. Try this: make 4 desktops and put outlook, solitare, firefox and object edit on one each. Now switch back and forth among the desktops. At some point, solitare will disappear. I've duplicated it several times. Now solitare disappearing isn't a big deal, but on my work machine serious stuff (like Word or Outlook) do go away, and that makes virtual desktops a non-starter for me there.

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Siege of Centauri
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Hi "do not use this name". I'm afraid I couldn't reproduce it on my laptop that way. I've been using build e all day and haven't had a window disappear yet but that doesn't mean anything as I can go for days without it happening. How fast is your PCs CPU - maybe it's related to hardware?

Posted in Linkas well.

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Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
I doubt that speed is the issue. I use two computers, both Dells. One has a Xeon 1.5MHz, the other, a laptop has a Pentium III, Mobile cpu 866MHz. Yesterday, on the Xeon machine, Outlook disappeared, but I was able to get it back by retrieving all windows. Of course, that screen was then populated by half a dozen other programs, as well! I haven't tried Mode 2 either.